Art I
"I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream." -Vincent Van Gogh
This piece was located outside in the park area of the museum. It is made out of mesh wire, depicting two large heads facing each other. The faces are very unique, especially because you can see through them to the other side, all of the features creating a three-dimensional look. Even the ears, noses, and mouths are depicted with detail, but with the eyes, it is a little harder to see their placement. Although this piece is based upon a mother and daughter relationship, the artist created the heads without specified gender or relationship so that the viewer is able to put themselves in that place. This allows the viewers to develop their own feelings and personal perspectives on the piece, relating to it in any way they want. In my opinion, this is what really makes this piece beautiful. This piece is also located outside the art museum in the park area. Examination of the piece shows that the tree is made of metal, welded together in the middle. This weld is extremely obvious, the metal creating an obvious ring around the tree where the weld job caused the steel to have a smooth texture. This job could have been accomplished with more skill in order to make every aspect of the tree look realistic. Within the metal branches of the man-made tree is nestled a large stone. This piece is very interesting to me because the fact that the tree is made of metal causes the viewer to question whether or not the stone is truly a real stone or not. Perhaps it is made of metal just like the tree is, or maybe it really is a stone held by the steel branches. It all comes down to the personal opinion of what makes art. Does the artist have to create every aspect of the piece, or simply arrange materials? I think that the creator of this piece also could have had other ideas for its meaning. The metal tree looks tired and dead, but is still managing to carry the heavy weight of the stone in its fragile branches. Maybe this tree represents a person, possibly even the artist himself. Perhaps this piece shows that there are people who are weakened or tired by their afflictions, but they stay strong, carrying the burden without relenting. This piece was also outside, three huge rings implanted in the ground in the park area of the art museum. This piece consists of 3 massive rings arching across a pathway outside the museum. The rings are rooted into the ground with cement, strongly supported there. On the last ring you can even see the mark in the ground where the ring piece was constructed. One of my favorite parts about this was that if you stood at one end and looked down the rings looked like they were getting smaller and smaller. It appeared almost as if you were standing in a tunnel. The rings were actually much larger closer than I had thought when I was just looking at them from a distance, and their shape reminded me of the St. Louis Arch that I visited this summer. This painting, located inside the contemporary area of the museum, was done by Kehinde Wiley. It depicts a young African-American man with tattooed skin standing in a powerful stance. The painting is done with oil paints, and just like other projects by Kehinde, the floral background is very detailed. Every inch of the painting is done with extreme care and detail, even the skin and every aspect of his clothing and hair perfectly added. I personally love this piece, not only because I am enthralled by detailed artwork, but because I love the meaning this painting and the rest of Kehinde's collection has. His work discusses the power of the African-American culture, painting them in strong stances modeled after European paintings from an earlier time. When we looked at the paintings of Europeans in the museum, some adjectives that came to mind were powerful, privileged, rich, and superior. But when we looked at Kehinde's painting, our minds instantly thought of a thug, assuming that he was not a person of the best moral character. This is the kind of stereotype that Wiley's work discusses and attacks, showing that these people truly do have power. I love his work because not only is it beautiful but it is meaningful, and I want to create art like that. This piece is known as the silver dendrite, located outside the art museum. At first glance, it appears to be a metal tree. This is a common belief about this piece, especially because it is outside. But in reality, the "tree" actually depicts a blown up version of human veins. The artist took something very small and made it larger, every branch and vessel extremely detailed. This piece has always fascinated me because it shows that even tiny things in our body resemble larger things in nature. This justifies the idea that all things in existence are intertwined, connected in ways that we don't understand.
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4/27/2017 0 Comments Positive-Negative Piece ProgressThis is my progress on the positive-negative piece that I am working on for the mini art gallery. I am going to paint a small map of the world in vibrant colors, representing the idea of positivity and beauty throughout the world. I also want to use the small size of this piece to express how tiny the world actually is in our universe. We are all really very small specks in the entirety of existence, yet we each have our own place and our own purpose. This perspective can be viewed both negatively and positively.
4/27/2017 0 Comments Memory Piece ProgressThe second photo is the progress of my memory piece, and the first is the photo I am basing the project off of. So far, I have finished creating the dress out of rose petals, which are slowly drying into more of a maroon color. The decoration at the waist is made from a rose leaf, the ends of the petals creating a design on it. The actual dress had small silver beads along the waistband, and I was attempting to recreate this design on my project. I also used a previously-dried rose to create my hair. The petals had dried into a purplish-brown hue, making them perfect to use for the hair. I still need to work on the right side and figure out a background. I hope to use the purplish-blue color from fresh petals to create this. I think that I definitely need to work on cleaning up the edges of the dress and making sure all of the details are unified.
4/21/2017 0 Comments Memory Piece ProgressThis is my progress on my memory piece. I have made a lot of progress on the dress, layering rose petals to make the skirt. I found a purplish, bluish pigment to outline the shape of the body by letting the petals soak in water for a few minutes and then rubbing the pigment off on a piece of paper, using it kind of like watercolor. Next, I will use dried roses for the hair and finish the skirt with the red rose petals.
I haven't started my positive and negative project yet, but I am considering different pieces that will convey that idea. 4/7/2017 0 Comments Ideas for Mini Art GalleryThese are my ideas for the art gallery in the doll house, reflecting the ideas of positive and negative. The first image on the top is a map of the entire world illuminated with bright, positive colors. The one below that is not as colorful, the mandala pattern still a representation of beauty although it is not as bright. This could either be positive or negative. The drawing beside that one depicts a girl with her eyes closed, the word "Silence" covering her mouth. This would be a negative theme, indicating the silence many people are oppressed under in the world and in this society.
4/7/2017 0 Comments Sketch of Memory PieceThis is my sketch for my memory piece. This memory is prom last year, when I went with my boyfriend Jacob before we were dating. My dress was red like roses, and now every month for our "month anniversary" he brings me a rose. So, I want to make the dress in this piece out of rose petals.
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Lydia GunnGo to the "Side Projects" page to see the artwork I've done outside of school. Archives
May 2017
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